Basketball Is Golden For Seniors Field Of 30 Trades Baskets Among Players 55-80 Years

Orange Sports

November 11, 1990|By Jill Cousins of The Sentinel Staff

SANFORD — The basketball players at Lakeview Middle School were working up a sweat on Wednesday morning, playing some intense games of one-on-one and sinking free throws with pin-point accuracy.

It was an unusual scene, considering all of the players had gray hair or no hair at all.

This was the Golden Age Games basketball competition, where the participants' ages ranged from 55 to 80. Approximately 30 senior adults from all over the country took part in the basketball contest, which is one of nearly 40 events in the annual Games.

For folks like Harry Brown and Ken Elliot, a couple of 76-year-olds, the basketball competition helps disprove the myth that senior citizens can't play vigorous team sports.

''So many times in the paper they show sports like shuffleboard,'' said Elliot, who lives in northern Michigan. ''And that's what people think old folks do.''

''I've been athletic all my life,'' added Brown, an assistant track and cross-country coach in Wilmington, Ohio. ''I've been in basketball, baseball, track and horseshoes. There's other things besides shuffleboard.''

Brown took first place in the free-throw shooting contest in the 75-79 division. Elliot lost in the finals of the one-on-one contest to Wilbur Ott, 76. Brown's wife Ellen took first place in the women's free-throw contest.

Brown, who is competing in his 10th Games, said he gave up playing one-on-one a couple of years ago, after his opponent died during their game.

''We played about 1 1/2 minutes,'' Brown said, ''and he just fell over. They called the rest of it (the basketball competition) off.

''I played in it for about seven years. It's tough for a person that old. That (incident) didn't really make me quit; I just thought that was enough.''

Not so for 73-year-old Nora Young and Wib Ragland. They were both victorious in the 70-74 division in the one-on-one competition.

Young has made the 2,300-kilometer drive from Toronto to Sanford every year since 1986.

''I played basketball when I was younger,'' Young said. ''I was on a team that won the Canadian Senior Ladies title in 1948. But I haven't played the game since last year.

''These games are marvelous. It's bringing more people out and they're staying in shape.''

Ragland, from southern Illinois, prepared for the Games by playing one-on-one with a top player from the local high school girls team. A former assistant high school basketball coach, Ragland said he's ''played basketball all my life.''

''It takes a lot of energy, but you've got to do what you like to do,'' Ragland said. ''I'd rather play basketball than do anything.''

St. Cloud resident John Davidson, 66, is also a basketball fanatic. He's been competing in the Games for 10 years and has yet to lose a one-on-one game. He was victorious this year in the 65-69 age group.

''I've had a basketball goal on my garage for the last 40 years,'' said Davidson, a former assistant principal at Winter Park High and Liberty Middle School. ''It's hard to find people my age to play. If I play one-on-one, I have to play with the kids.''

In addition to competing, Davidson was also scouting for players to join him in a three-on-three seniors competition in Bradenton next month. He spotted 6-foot-6 Don Parsons, 61, and convinced him to join the team.

Parsons played college basketball at Rutgers University and was drafted by the New York Knicks in 1950.

''It's in my blood,'' said Parsons, whose son Gary was a standout basketball player at Winter Park High and Rollins College. ''I played in high school and college, I coached, I refereed, and I watched my kids play.

''This is my first year doing this. I really like the competition. But I have a hard time admitting I'm that old.''